Within A Dream
by SilentWolf76
Summary: Within a dream, there is happiness. Within a dream, there is nostalgia. Within a dream, there is also torment. Within a dream, there is also suffering. The first two are dreams which you don't want to wake from. But the last two…well, they are the ones known as nightmares. And that's what strikes another unfortunate person that night.


**A/N: Heyo~ More suffering, hooray! Oh, and human names are used. Warning: confusing as hell. Enjoy~**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia**

* * *

What? Where am I? I don't understand…wasn't I at aniki's house? Yeah, I invited myself over – no, _Yao_ invited me over. What for, again? Is it my birthday? Or…huh? I'm confused.

But I don't recognise this place. This corridor is unlike anything I've ever seen before – except in horror movies, of course…but this is real life, right? There isn't going to be some sort of jump-scare?

No, I'm being ridiculous. Jump-scares originated in Korea, so I can't be scared of them, can I? Wait- am I sleeping? Is this a dream? I'm sure I went to sleep in the guest room at aniki's house, so I must be in a dream right now.

Scratching my head in confusion, I stare uneasily down the dark, creepy corridor. It's almost pitch black, save for the broken lights which illuminate it in flashes. Yeah, this is definitely something out of a horror movie. Just waiting for the knife-wielding maniac or monster to show up-

No, no I'm not. I don't exactly _want_ to be chased by anything like that. I want to wake up.

 _But what if this is your reality, Yong Soo?_

I whip my head round as the sweet, harmonious voice drifts through my ears.

"Wh-who's there?" I ask, flinching as my voice echoes down the silent corridor. That's strange, the other voice didn't echo…

 _Hush, child. Bask in your reality. Accept your fate, and do it._

"D-do what?" 'Bask in my reality'? What are they on about? And why can't I see them?

 _Do it._

"I don't know what you mean!"

 _Do it._

"Show yourself!"

 _Do it. Kill him._

I nearly choke on air at that. "'K-kill him'?! Kill who?!" It's like the voice has no body; well, that's a creepy thought.

 _You know who I mean._

"No, I don't! Show yourself!"

Then I hear a chuckle, which sounds ever so slightly insane. _Oh, silly Yong Soo. You don't want me to show you what I look like, now do you?_

"How do you know my name?! And what's so bad about what you look like?" I don't understand what's going on. I expect to see a woman, as the voice sounds very feminine.

 _I know everything about you. And how odd; you're not adding your 'da-ze' to the end of your sentences. Perhaps you don't say it when you're scared, hmm?_

"I-I'm not scared!" No, I really am.

 _Don't lie!_

I can't refrain from squeaking in fright at that, much to my embarrassment. But whoever they are, they didn't answer my second question. "Why won't you show yourself?"

 _I don't want you to see me._

"Why not?"

 _Because you'll be afraid._

"Look, if you're ugly or something, I won't be scared of you-"

 _Shut up!_ That inhuman screech just now left a ringing in my ears. Is the voice in my head or something? _You know nothing!_

"Well…just describe yourself to me, then!" What else can I say?

There was a pause from the voice, before it purrs. _You want to imagine what I look like?_ They giggled. _Interesting…alright, I'll play this game with you._

 _"_ …" A game? They really think this is a game?

 _Twin mountains, rising from the bush…_

"What?" Are they describing themselves via _riddles_?

 _Listen the first time,_ they snap. _Twin mountains, rising from the bush…_

"Um…I don't know."

 _Next one._

"Wait; can't you give me the answer?"

 _No._ They seem to clear their throat. _Long branches, dropping from the trunk…_

"I-I don't know riddles that well."

 _It doesn't matter. Have a guess._

"Er…are you a tree?"

This seemed to enrage the voice. _You dare insult_ me _!_ They roar, and the sudden painful sound makes me cover my ears and cringe. I see large claw marks appearing alone the wall to my left, and boy, are they long. Just what _is_ this invisible thing?!

 _I will show you my form, if it is only to scare you!_

Suddenly, they appear before me, and I swear I stop breathing. Two large horns are protruding from a fur-covered head; although the fur is almost non-existent. It has four long, dangling legs, each equipped with four huge claws, and a tail much like a rat's, which seems to snake around its legs. I suppose it resembles that of a cross between a werewolf and The Rake, which only adds to the creepiness factor.

It narrowed its eyes at me. _Do you fear me?_ It asks, still with the feminine, sweet voice, despite its monstrous appearance.

"Y-you aren't real!" I yell, mostly out of fright. "This is just a dream!"

 _Oh?_ It raised the area where an eyebrow should be. In a split-second, it's claws raked across my left cheek, and I yelped, mostly out of surprise.

 _Dream this may be, the effects of my hand will appear on your true body. Fret not; for those marks will be the only physical harm which comes to you here._

"'P-physical harm'? What about…mental, or-"

 _Now, 'ere begins the eve of confusion._

Why is it suddenly speaking in riddles? However, I have no time to react as its mouth opens and seems to swallow me up and it's pitch black and I'm falling and then-

-and then I wake up, drenched in a cold sweat and breathing hard.

I relax slightly as I realise that I'm in Yao's guest room. Unfortunately, that feeling is short-lived, as a loud rumble deafens me.

I want to say 'what's going on', but no sound seems to come out of my mouth. Frowning, I try to lift my hand up, but it's stuck. Glancing down, I stare in horror as I realise that I'm not in a normal bed.

I'm in a sticky, black sludge which seems to act similarly to quicksand. And it's slowly devouring me.

I know that struggling in quicksand only makes the situation worse, but I can't help it. There's no-one around to help me. I'm on my own.

But this weird stuff hurts. It burns my skin as if acid, and it causes me to writhe under its painful grip on my body. This seems to amuse it, as it increases the speed with which it's devouring me. Since I'm laying down, it doesn't take long for it to rise up to my chin.

I'm still thrashing about in an effort to free myself, but when the disgusting sludge touches my cheek, it doesn't just burn; it stings, as well. It's as if I have a cut…

Or what if I do? What if whatever that monster did in my dream actually affected me in real life.

But this can't be real life. What sort of reality is it when someone wakes up in weird black sludge-quicksand? Definitely not the one I'm used to.

Oh God, I can't breathe out my mouth now. Am I suffocating? No, I can still use my nose. But what for? My lungs have been swallowed up by this stuff, so what's the point in breathing?

It's completely filled my nose now. The acrid tang fills my mouth as well, and it makes me want to gag, but doing that would only force more of it in. The smell is nauseating, and my nose wrinkles. But now my two ways of breathing are both cut off, I panic and flail about even more, my eyes squeezed shut to prevent the sludge from entering them.

I cry for help in a last, choked gasp before I-

-before I wake up in aniki's guest room, on a normal bed, once again in a cold sweat, my breathing heavy and fast.

I cough weakly, and look around. The room seems normal, but I'm really shaken up and very paranoid.

Nervously, I stand up and walk to the door, and I hold my breath as I slowly open the door. It still appears to be night, as the hallway is dark. I can see Yao's room, and the upstairs bathroom. But I don't want to just was my face and go back to sleep. I need to check the entire house for that… _thing._

 _'Thing'? How rude._

I jump at least a few inches off the ground and scan the entire hallway, before shaking my head. There's no-one there. I just imagined the voice, right? Right?

Trembling, I walk down the hallway, hoping to just glance down the stairs and be done with it. My already frazzled nerves can't take much more. I want to go to aniki, but I don't want to disturb him. Besides, he'll probably say I'm being ridiculous.

Nearing the end of the hallway, I find myself flinching at every creak of the floorboards beneath my feet, and whimpering every time the wind howls a little louder than before outside.

You can do this, Yong Soo, I tell myself. There's nothing there. As I turn round the corner, I repeat this over and over like a mantra-

-and come face-to-face with the monster.

Screaming in terror, I quickly whirl round and bolt back down the hallway, completely passing aniki's room but I can't stop. It's hot on my heels.

I keep telling myself not to look back, to just keep running, but I can't help it. And every time I look back, I scream or whimper and try to increase my speed even more.

"Leave me alone!" I yell at it, skidding round a corner. But instead of being met with the other staircase in Yao's house, I'm met with another hallway, which is strange. I have no time to ponder on this, though, as the monster's hot breath seems to scald my back.

 _You can't escape my domain._ It hisses, no longer sounding sweet. Now it sounds like the monster it is.

"Go away!" I round another corner, and I frown as I'm running down another hallway. I know for a fact that Yao doesn't have this many upstairs hallways. Which means that this isn't his house.

 _Now, why should I leave where I belong?_ It's starting to make sense now. This isn't the real world. I'm still trapped in wherever-the-hell this is.

"Why are you doing this?!" I demand, slightly out of breath from running and shouting.

I have to sidestep quickly to avoid having a chunk of my back taken out from the monster's teeth. _Why am I doing this? Doing what?_

"D-don't play innocent with me!" I have to stop soon. I can't keep going on.

 _You should have a little more respect for the master of the house, you know._

"Shut up and answer me!"

I don't have to look behind me to know that it's smirking. _Don't you find this more…entertaining, rather than a boring dream?_

"What are you on about? Leave me alone!" I almost fall over in my haste to turn, and I spot a figure leaving a room.

" _What_ is going _on_ , aru?!" Yao walks out of his room, and I run towards him, thankful to see a familiar face.

However, that 'familiar face' is soon proven to be a mistake, as this person before me has no eyes; instead empty sockets which drip black sludge. There are two horns protruding from the top of his head, and he slowly turns his head towards me.

I unconsciously slow down as I stare in horror at this fake Yao, which proves to be a horrible mistake.

The monster is upon me in seconds, quite literally _upon_ me as it pounced on me, sending me crashing to the floor.

"H-help!" I cry, hoping that the fake Yao would come to my aid.

But he doesn't, and the monster sinks its teeth into my right shoulder. It feels hot and cold at the same time, and my forehead presses against the floor, my chin tucked to my chest, as I let loose a loud, agonised scream, writhing about in an attempt to be free from this horrible fate.

It seems to chuckle at my efforts, and tightens its grip on my shoulder, and it just hurts so, so much, and then-

-and then I shoot up in the guest room bed of aniki's house, and I immediately hiss in pain as my right shoulder painfully protests.

I don't want to move at all. I just want to wake up properly. Because I know for a fact that I'm not in the real world right now, if _that_ was anything to go by.

'That' being a brightly lit room with some sort of weird chair ten metres or so from the bed.

 _Sit in the chair,_ a voice whispers into my ear, but there's no-one there. Perhaps it is merely the monster being invisible again.

But I refuse to move. If I don't move, then surely nothing bad could happen, right?

 _Sit in the chair,_ it commanded again. I didn't budge, and it repeated the sentence again, with faint traces of impatience.

Suddenly, a barrage of images flash in my mind's eye, mainly consisting of me sitting in the bed, not moving, and everyone I care about getting brutally murdered by the monster that terrorised me. Yao, Kiku, Mei, to name a few. All of the nations that I know seem to be getting attacked. I know what the message is; sit in the chair, or everyone dies.

I guess I have no choice, then. After all, how bad could sitting in one measly chair be?

Slowly, I get out of bed, and my left hand clamps down on my right shoulder. My cheek still stings from the scratches, but my shoulder hurts significantly more.

It doesn't take long for me to reach the chair, which seems to be emitting an aura that makes me want to sit in it. How odd. However, there isn't much I can do against it, and I sit in it.

Immediately, my body begins to change. My toenails turn into claws, and my legs seem to change their skeletal shape – to that of the monster. I don't want to turn into the monster, though!

I try to get up, to escape the chair, but it's as if my body suddenly weighs a tonne. It won't budge, and the transformation is _painful_. Luckily, it seems to start from the bottom, meaning that my shoulder won't feel it yet. But when it does…I shudder at the thought.

Why am I turning into that monster anyway? I don't want to. What the hell's happening?!

In the space of a couple of minutes, my body has almost fully changed into something I don't want it to be. My shoulder is absolutely killing me. There's blood everywhere, and I don't understand why I have to go through this. My throat's sore, and I think I'm screaming, but I'm not sure. I'm slowly tuning out with the world. I'm becoming numb to everything but the pain that courses through my entire body.

" _Yong Soo!"_ Someone suddenly yells, but it sounds more like a whisper.

 _Almost complete,_ the voice whispers, but it sounds more like a yell. Am I going insane?

" _Wake up!"_ There it is again. Someone's calling me, talking to me, but I don't know who.

 _Don't listen to them,_ the bodiless voice mutters, _it's an intruder._ 'Intruder'? What does that mean? I can't see anyone else in the room with me.

" _Come on, aru!"_ My eyes widen at that. 'Aru' = Yao. Yao is an intruder. No, he's a saviour.

But he's too late. My body is almost transformed. My face is the only human part left. I'm losing my mind to this… _thing._ The world seems to be darkening, and-

-and then my eyes snap open, and I stare into Yao's concerned face. He seems to be pinning me to the bed, and this freaks me out.

"Get off!" I scream, thrashing about in an attempt to escape.

"Yong Soo, calm down aru." He commands in a gentle yet stern tone.

"No! You're not real! Y-you're just _that_ in disguise!" I shake my head, eyes tightly shut. I'm so confused.

"What's 'that'?" He asks, before releasing one of my wrists (so _that's_ why I couldn't move my arms) to cup my cheek, which stings in response. "And why do you have scratches on your cheek?"

I…have scratches on my cheek? Does that mean that…

With the realisation that I don't even get to finish thinking about, the incredible pain of my right shoulder hits me, and I gasp in shock and clamp my left hand over it.

"What's wrong, aru?" Yao asks, but all I can do is whimper and shift about, as if I can be free of the pain I feel. He notices blood on the quilt then, and his breath hitches as he understands what's going on – some of it, at least.

"I'll be right back." He murmurs as he releases my other wrist and stands up.

"W-wait, don't leave!" I cry, reaching out.

"I have to, Yong Soo. You're hurt, and whilst I don't know how, I do know that it still needs tending to."

"Please!" I don't care if I'm begging now; he just can't leave. I don't want to be alone, not with the chance of that monster returning.

He sighs and grabs the towel that usually hangs over the foot of my bed, before swatting my hand out of the way to press onto my shoulder. I yelp and start wriggling, which earns me a scolding to 'stay still' from my older brother.

"So…what were you having a nightmare about?" He asks, but seems to regret it as I stiffen. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I just-"

"I-it was really confusing. I kept waking up, but in another dream. It was so weird…" I trail off, wincing as Yao adds a bit more pressure.

"It must have been awful. You were thrashing about and screaming like you were getting tortured or something."

"Th-there was this scary monster terrorising me..." I whimper and shake, but then the older nation takes my hand and gently squeezes it reassuringly, before returning it to the towel.

"It's okay. You're safe now. Aniki's here." I remember how Yao used to say that all the time when I was younger. He would say those three sentences, especially the last one, for a range of things, from sickness to nightmares to injuries. It's nice to hear it, even now I'm older.

"Please don't let it get me…"

"It won't, don't worry."

"I can't believe it originated from Korea, d-da-ze…"

"Well, our minds can be absolute arses at times, aru." He snorts to himself, before removing the towel. "Ah, it seems that the bleeding's stopped. I doubt you'll get an infection, but I still don't understand how you got it."

"The monster…it bit me."

This causes Yao to frown. "But that was in a dream. Why did it affect you in the real world?"

"Well, I think it said that it would, so…"

"Still, it's not normal. Perhaps you may have been possessed or something." Yao seems to worry about this possibility, but I see an opportunity.

"If that's true, then I need to ring Alfred, da-ze!"

"No, don't you dare! It's only 3AM, don't bother him at all-"

I giggle as the phone I hold in my hand rings. I ignore the pain in my shoulder as I hold the phone in my right hand, considering my left one's all bloodied.

 _"Oh my God, why are you ringing me at this time, Yongs?"_

"Al-Al, you are not gonna believe this!"

 _"Believe what?"_ He sounds curious, and I know that I have his attention.

"I might be possessed!"

I hear a squeak of fright from the other end. _"Wh-what?! Dude, that's freaky! Don't bring the g-g-ghost over here!"_

I start laughing, and Yao doesn't seem to approve as he snatches the phone from my hand and says, "Alfred, I highly doubt it, so just ignore this entire phone call and go to sleep aru." He's about to hang up when the American's voice drifts through again.

 _"Wait, wait, I'm curious now. How did he get possessed?"_

Yao rolls his eyes. "He might not be. He just had a bad nightmare and woke up with scratches on his cheek and a bleeding shoulder. He claims that the 'monster' in his dream did it to him."

 _"I'm coming over."_

"What?! No, you can't just come over when you want to! Besides, you're not even in the same _continent_ , so how the hell can you-"

" _See ya in about fifteen minutes, dudes!"_ With that, he hangs up, and Yao's expression is thunderous.

"Okay for starters, I can't believe you just rang someone at three in the morning. Secondly, I can't believe Alfred's actually inviting himself over. Lastly…nicknames?"

I shrug, and quickly regret it with a hiss of pain. "He calls me Yongs, so I call him Al-Al. It's simple, really."

He rolls his eyes again. "Just don't you dare start calling me Yao-Yao or something." That actually kinda works, though, and I suppose he knows what I'm thinking because he adds, "If you say it, then I will punch your bad shoulder and leave the room."

I sigh and lean against the headboard, feeling exhausted. "Aniki…why does this sort of thing happen?"

Yao seems to sense my mood change because he sits next to me and pats my leg comfortingly. "I don't know. I suppose life has to have us suffer in our sleep. But you'll be okay. I turned the hall light on so it's not pitch black, and that bedside lamp aru."

Huh. I just notice them now he's mentioned them. "Thanks, Yao." I'm about to close my eyes, when I feel a hand on my forehead. Panicking slightly, I jerk to the side, and inhale sharply as I add a little too much weight onto my right arm, causing my shoulder to protest. The hand falls away, and I hear Yao sigh in relief.

"Your temperature's normal, so I doubt there's any sort of paranormal activity."

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused. What's my temperature got to do with spirits and ghosts and stuff?

"Well, if you were possessed, then your skin would be colder, and if you had a paranormal infection or sickness of some kind, then you could be either hot or cold. You seem normal enough, so it must have just been a really weird dream."

I hum and almost drift off before an image of the monster flashes in my mind and I flinch, eyes opening and trying to keep an eye on the entire room.

"Is something wrong aru?" Yao's brows furrow in concern, and I feel a sting in my eyes. He knows what I want before I do and embraces me, mindful of my shoulder. I start crying into his shoulder, ignoring the fact that I probably seem like a baby. I'm really shaken up, so surely I'm allowed to cry, right? I burrow my face into his shoulder, and he rubs my back comfortingly.

That's the scene Alfred walks into when he arrives.

"Uh…dudes? You okay? I was crashing at Japan's so I took my private jet to come here as fast as I could, but…are you two okay?"

Yao flinches and breaks our hug. "Alfred, you can't just invite yourself over aru."

"I know, but I can help him!"

"I don't think he's actually possessed-"

"He's not. It's an NMD." The American declared.

"A _what_?" Aniki looks confused. So am I.

"It stands for Nation Mind Demon."

"Oh my God, stop making up random things-" Yao folds his arms.

"No, it's real. I've had it a couple times before. It's basically a mind demon that only affects nations, and causes a horrific nightmare – which is just one after another. It'll keep doing this every night until someone gets rid of it." Alfred explained confidently.

"And…how exactly do you get rid of it?" I ask nervously. I really don't want to experience _that_ again.

"Easy; don't think about it. For 72 hours, don't think about it. It only survives because you think about it. If you carry on as normal for three full days, including when you go to sleep, then it dies."

"Well that's a bit…anticlimactic." I admit, thinking there was going to be some sort of exorcising ritual or battle in my mind.

"But that's only _after_ the first bit's done." Alfred adds.

"Why didn't you just explain it in order?!" Yao throws his hands up exasperatedly.

He fiddles with his hands. "Because…the first bit's nasty."

I swallow nervously. "What…sort of nasty?"

"Well…it usually inflicts a bad wound on the nation the first night. That being…your shoulder, right?" I nod, and he continues, "So what I have to do is…cover my hand in salt and reach into the wound-"

Yao gags slightly. "That's disgusting; why would you need to do that anyway? Not to mention the pain it would cause him aru!"

"I know, but I have no choice. The NMD is attached to the injury it makes, so the way to weaken it is to put a salt-covered hand – the salt cleanses and 'purifies' it in a way - into the wound and tap on the nearest bone."

I make a face at that. "What's the point of touching a bone?"

"It would send an echo of defiance resonating through the skeleton. Basically, it sends a signal up to the skull and then to the brain that there's someone out there who isn't scared of the NMD. It practically feeds off fear that the mind creates about it – that's why you don't think about it 'cause you're probably afraid of it – and that, in turn, weakens it. 'Starves' it, I suppose you could say."

"…" Both Yao and I make no comment.

"It probably needs to be done now. Are you up for it, Yongs?" Alfred looks at me uncertainly, which makes me want to do this now. I nod confidently, and try to get up, but all the energy seems to have left my body.

Yao seems to sense this, as he helps me up; only to lay me on the floor. "Salt's downstairs, Alfred. Bring the whole lot if you have to." He muttered in a monotone.

I frown at him. How can he sound so…emotionless right now? "A-aniki-"

"Hush. Save your strength."

"What's wrong?" I frown as he seems to be avoiding eye contact. I lift my left hand to try and tug on his sleeves, but I don't get very far.

"…I'm sorry…" He mumbles, fists clenching.

I'm shocked by this. What's he apologising for? "For what?"

He sighs and looks me right in the eye. "For not being able to help you. Alfred helped you more than I could, and he just got here!"

I can't believe I'm hearing this. Is Yao seriously feeling guilty about 'not being able to help me'? "What are you-"

"I'm back!" Alfred announces as he walks in, carrying what looks like a bowl of salt.

Yao glances at me, before turning to the newcomer. "How long will this take?"

"Hmm…it depends."

"On what?"

"How co-operative they are."

Aniki raises an eyebrow. "'They'?"

Alfred nods. "Yongs needs to be strong and _stay awake,_ and the NMD needs to give up quickly and not fight. It'll be a lot less painful that way."

"Isn't this…kinda like an exorcism ritual?" I ask the question that's been on my mind ever since my American friend explained what he had to do.

"Yeah, I guess so." He replies simply.

I sigh. "Okay then…but can you be quick? I mean it's like what, half three? I know there's no way in hell that I can go to sleep again, but what about you two?"

"Yong Soo, you are not seriously worrying about others, considering your current condition." Yao says to me.

I shrug, before swearing colourfully under my breath. "Just hurry up." My voice is strained as I try to restrain a whimper from escaping my lips.

Alfred nods and kneels beside me, with my older brother mirroring him on my other side. "Okay, I'll need you to hold him down on your side." He orders Yao, who wordlessly obeys by pinning my left wrist down and to my side, whilst his other hand pushes down on my left shoulder. "Yong Soo, you can be as loud as you want, but please, try not to move too much. It'll only hurt more."

Okay, so no nickname this time. He's definitely serious right now, so I need to be. I nod, and exhale, trying to prepare myself for what's to come.

He mutters something to himself, before reaching his left hand into the bowl and flexing his fingers into the salt, making sure to cover as much of his hand as possible. His other hand is placed on my chest, and he presses down to stop me from arching my back. That thought alone scares me; just how painful is this? I mean, there's a saying 'rubbing salt into a wound' or something, but this is what he's quite _literally_ going to do. I know it hurts like hell, but still…

He lifts his left hand out of the bowl, and moves it to hover over my shoulder. A couple tiny grains of the white substance fall onto my shoulder, and I hiss under my breath. But if that's only a couple little bits, then a whole hand covered in it…

"W-wait, I uh…" I trail off as I see that Alfred seems in the zone. I've never seen him look so focused. To be honest, I've never seen him be so smart, but I don't dare say that aloud. It's mean, after all, considering the fact that he's helping me out here. All I can do is grit my teeth and tough it out, which will most likely not go to plan at all.

"Slowly doing it will hurt for longer, so I'm going to be as quick as possible. It may be more painful, but I can't be gentle. Just…try to keep still, okay?"

I want to reply to him, but I can't. I'm focusing too hard on trying to control my shaking; both from the after-effects of my awful dream and the prospect of the pain I'm about to be in – well, I'm already in pain, but it's going to get much worse.

Alfred takes a deep breath, and plunges his hand into my shoulder. Yes, I've been shot before, and yes, I've accidentally rubbed a _lot_ of hand sanitizer into a cat scratch (long story), but _nothing_ could have prepared me for _this_. At first, my jaw clenches, but it soon opens to release a loud scream of agony as my head tips back, exposing my neck in a way that means my back is about to arch, but the bespectacled nation's hand is stopping me from doing so.

One of my eyes is tightly shut while I try to keep the other one open as much as possible and my nails dig into the floor. My entire body is shaking, and my legs tense up as my toes curl. My breathing is impossible to control as it varies between heavy, slow pants and shallow, quick gasps. I can feel every little movement he makes in my shoulder, and I can feel every little grain of salt that comes into contact with my torn flesh.

Desperately, I try to use my right hand to push him away, but not only does that hurt my shoulder more, but I don't have the energy to do such a simple task anyway.

As he reaches even deeper in, the edges of my vision begin to darken, and I suppose I might've sagged slightly or quietened my breathing or something because Yao releases my left shoulder to place a hand over my forehead in a comforting manner.

"Stay awake, Yong Soo. Stay with us aru." I let loose another scream instead, and the shaking that courses through my body increases to the point where I wonder if I'm going into shock.

Suddenly, Alfred's hand is far in enough so that he taps the bottom of my collarbone, which sends a cold sensation racing up the aforementioned bone and to my skull, before seeming to leap into my brain.

And that's when it got worse.

My head feels like it's about to explode as an excruciating agony fills my cranium, and it feels as if my brain is tearing itself in two. I keep screaming until my throat is raw, and I'm pretty sure I've almost broken through the floor with my nails, but it doesn't matter. Both my eyes are squeezed shut now as the pain from both my shoulder and my head overwhelms me, and I feel on the verge of passing out. In fact, unconsciousness seems to be a mercy to me right now.

I can faintly hear voices, but they're muffled and distant. All I want to do is go to sleep. I don't care if I get another nightmare (this thought seems to make the pain in my head spike), I just want to be free from this suffering - even if it's only temporary.

I feel Alfred's hand leave my shoulder, but it seems as if I'm becoming numb. I can't sense anything around me except being engulfed in pain.

As soon as it struck, the explosion of agony in my head recedes to little more than a dull ache with occasional stabs of pain. Now there's only the burning pain of my right shoulder, which seems to be fading as the salt-covered hand is gone, and the only reason for it to hurt is the disturbance and the faint traces of salt remaining in it.

I try to stay awake, I really do, but it's quarter to four in the morning and I'm in too much pain to deal with, so I sink into unconsciousness.

"Damn, we lost him," Yao mutters as he sees the way my bloodied body relaxes.

"Yeah but, I think it's over now." Alfred sighs as he leans back. "Hey, you wouldn't mind if I stayed here for a day or two, would ya?"

Yao's eyebrows almost disappear into his hairline. "What?! No way aru!"

"Oh, come on!" He whines. "I just saved Yongs' life!"

The Chinese nation frowns. "What do you mean 'saved his life'?"

"Well, the NMD would cause severe sleep deprivation, paranoia and gradual insanity. Since he's a nation, he would suffer until his country is no more. He would be…very suicidal, to say the least. Extremely unstable."

Yao sighs. "Aiyah, I can't believe I'm saying this." He mutters under his breath as he runs a hair through his loose hair (sleeping in a ponytail is _extremely_ uncomfortable). " _Fine_ , you can stay. You can go in the other guest room."

"'Other guest room'?" Alfred echoes. "Doesn't Yong Soo have his own room here?"

"He does, but Li Xiao was arguing with him over something and decided to get some revenge by using firecrackers and…well, it didn't end well. Had to take the pair of them to hospital, actually. This was a month ago, but I still haven't got round to repairing his room."

"Ah, I see." The American nods. "Well, thanks dude. I'll make sure that he doesn't think about the NMD for the next three days. But at night, I'll probably have to bunk with him, y'know."

"No, you are not sleeping with Yong Soo at night aru."

Alfred blushes slightly at this statement. "Not like _that_ ; I mean to help him when the nightmares attack again."

"I know that, but still-"

"C'mon; let's clean up the blood."

"Don't boss me about; I'm older than you!"

* * *

~Three days later~

True to his word, Alfred keeps my thoughts away from the… _thing_ , and I find myself enjoying his company, even if it mostly consists of us joking around, playing video games and him getting terrified while watching movies.

After 72 hours, my head suddenly feels lighter, as if a great weight has been lifted from it. Which, I suppose, is accurate. I originally thought that there would be a sensation of my head being split open or something, but the reality's rather…anticlimactic, yet relieving.

Yao ruffles my hair affectionately, although he has to stretch slightly to do so. "I'm glad you're back to normal now, at least. But how did you even get it in the first place aru?"

"It comes from nightmares." Alfred supplies. "If someone has enough nightmares, then it will appear and start feeding off the nightmares, eventually festering and becoming able to create its own and terrorise the victim. If someone's had a rather traumatic point in their life, then they're prone to more nightmares."

"I suppose with the Japanese Invasion and the Korean War, he's bound to get more nightmares, and then the normal ones from too many horror movies and fears…" Yao trails off, glancing at me like a disapproving parent. "But let's not go into any of that aru. What matters is that you're safe now. And Alfred?"

"Yeah?"

Aniki smiles. "Thanks for your help."

He grins and gives a thumbs-up. "You're welcome! It's a hero's job to help people, after all!"

I hum. "If you say so, Al-Al. See you whenever da-ze!" I wave at him as he walks to the front door. His time is up; he has to leave.

"You too dude! See ya, Yongs! Bye, Yao-Yao!" With that, he leaves, sniggering.

A flustered Yao called after him, "Don't call me that aru!"

"Oh, come on~" I sling my left arm over his shoulders. "You can call us by our nicknames as well~"

"I don't want to be involved in your silly little nicknames thing. Not to mention I'd prefer not to butcher your name."

"Nicknames usually butcher people's names anyway, da-ze."

He sighs and walks into the kitchen, and I follow close behind.

"Hey, can I invite Li Xiao over?"

Yao scoffs. "After what happened last time you two were here? No chance."

I pout. "Meanie." I rub my right shoulder and move to sit down in a nearby chair.

The action of touching my shoulder did not go unnoticed by my older brother. "Are you okay aru?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just aches is all."

He nods in understanding. "Well, don't hesitate to tell me if it starts hurting again."

I smile. "I will, don't worry. Sharing your pain with others originated from Korea, da-ze."

Yao chuckles. "Sure. Being responsible originated from China, then aru."

I stare at him. "Oh no you didn't. It totally originated from Korea!"

Aniki rolls his eyes. "Whatever floats your boat."

I lean back in the chair, feeling relaxed. For the moment, all is right with the little world called home; and that's good enough for me.

* * *

 **A/N: Jeez, this is a lot longer than expected! I've been writing for about 9 hours on this, y'know. I think I broke my elbow writing (blame the cramps and various awkward positions).**

 **Oh, and to help: Yong Soo = Korea (yes, it was entirely in his POV 'cause why not), Yao = China, Alfred = America, Kiku = Japan, Mei = Taiwan and Li Xiao = Hong Kong. Please say you knew who was who, 'cause if not…le cri :'(**

 **Lastly, I wonder if you got the two riddles at the start…if so, I wonder what answer you got? *evil laugh that ends in choking***

 **Bye~**


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